Author Archives: admin I love this band…but I have to say I just adore the families who make it up. They are authentic. They have hearts that beat to the Savior’s. And their song “Children of God” reminds me why families called to adoption jump through the hoops they do, why they wait for years for one, and […]  At the Created for Care retreat I opened up the weekend sharing what I believe I see the Lord doing…on behalf of orphans and widows throughout the world. I see God raising up men and women to follow Jesus into the unknown–to bring hope and healing to orphans and widows THROUGH OUT THE WORLD. Not […] Amazingly God inspired words,Andrea. Just today in my bible study we are i John 16 and we all talked about verse 33 ~ and here you are writing exactly what my past week has been meditating about…God winks at us …to me He through you has let me know He is with me as I cast my troubles and heart to Him. Thank you for inspiring all of us to be obedient and open to God’s blessings He has planned for us. Hope your little ones are as excited about the hope of Spring as my family. Thank you for this post…for many reasons!!! Trying to cast my cares upon the Lord and trust in his sovereign plan……. Andrea, Lovely as always. I am feeling so at peace after I tried to struggle with this alone and finally cast my nets to the Lord and now… I’ve never felt more at peace. strange..nope you and I know..Only God:) Love, Racelle Your words are like a soothing oil to my heart, my friend~ as I read your post before laying my head upon my pillow to pray, pray and PRAY some more for not only our future little one(s), but all of the children awaiting families in ET. I LOVE how God brings others alongside us to help endure the rocky road that the enemy creates, in effort to thwart God’s plan of adoption. YOU are one of those He has provided me along this blessed journey to our child or children, Andrea! THANK YOU for your heart! THANK YOU for sharing it’s beauty and love with us! May God bless you as you continue to walk in obedience to Him………. Beautiful and full of wisdom, Andrea. I enjoy the clarity I get when I read the words God has laid on your heart each day. I just wish I could find clarity in knowing when God is closing a door to open another one and HOW do you know that’s what he is doing and not testing your trust in Him? So well put as always, Andrea. My prayer is that even if we never are able to adopt, I will always be ready to be an encourager for anyone who is. You and others have shown me even more what a sweet blessing is found in following Jesus. Stay strong, my friend! 🙂 I think that whether you follow the lord or not, you will be met with nay-sayers. That is unfortunately life. But you always must be confident in what is best for you, and it sounds like you definitely were. Beautiful post Andrea- Kim Thank you. Just thank you. For being honest, but hope-filled in everything you say here on your blog. Thank you for telling your son’s story, for your obedience to God’s call, for your heart for widows, for orphans, for moms, for children in general…just thank you. I needed to hear this today. And probably will again tomorrow. And maybe the day after that… So thank you.  First–there are very few things that take my breath away–but I just had to hold it for a bit on Saturday at the Wiphan Warthog Waddle. The day started with RAIN–and I was sure few would come out. BUT to my surprise MANY did. I was taken back again when one a regular racer and […] What a precious video of Frank racing to the finish. I’m so thankful to have connected with Shelly at Created for Care (ha – even though I didn’t actually meet her until a week later!) She has been so instrumental in our adoption and such a blessing to me as we have gone through this transition. Love that gal! Yay Frank! So proud of you!!! Thank you for running for me. Praying for your family’s week. Andrea, God has certainly blessed you for raising your hands up to him to be used! Thank you for sharing the living gospel. It always seems I study the word and then you post a living example just after! I love it! Thank you for the kleenex warning! Incredible video of incredible love in action! It was SO great to meet you and talk with you on Saturday! I loved seeing so many people coming together on a yucky, rainy day just for the orphans and widows thousands of miles away–how cool is that?? All I could think about as I watched Frank’s video was how awesome that Father / son relationship is…and how it completely parallels our relationship with our Heavenly Father. He’s always right there, encouraging us, pushing us on, and letting us know He’s right behind us. Frank is blessed with both fathers. ps – my 3 year old daughter is sitting on my lap chanting “Go Frank, Go Frank, Go Frank!” :0) What determination your little one has…Go Frank! Thanks for letting me be a part of race day, even from South Florida! It was SO great to chat with you on Saturday! It made my heart so happy to see so many people come together for the orphan and the widow. I know God has some awesome plans in the works! Thanks for running for me Frank!!! I was so happy to see that you hit every puddle – and you never gave up! Thank you for making a difference for my sponsored child, Margret, on behalf of me on the West Coast who could not attend. Way to go, Buddy!!!  Well…if there’s one boy I’m proud of today–it’s the little trouper who refused a ride in a stroller and RAN the ENTIRE race! He was the sweeper for race day…but the cheers from the crowd as he came made this momma so proud! SERIOUSLY?! What 2 year old has this kind of determination?! He woke […] So beautiful! I know you must have been so proud of your children and their hearts! I wish I lived a little closer – oh to have been a part of such a wonderful day! I get chills looking at the pictures of Frank running for me and everyone else that could not attend but would have enjoyed to. I especially loved seeing the room filled with so many people loving Wiphan – makes me smile thinking how great for my sweet girl and all of her friends who are being loved and cared for by so many!! Great work, Andrea and Team! xoxo I absolutely LOVE reading your blog! I have been friends with the Bowen’s for many years and love the work of WIPHAN. I can’t even remember how I linked to your blog, but it was a joy to read your about your “journey to Isaac!” I’m so proud of Frankie baby for running the entire race! Thanks again for your blog. God uses your words to encourage and challenge me. And….I LOVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY!! I realized after finding your blog that you were friends with Addie. I love the pics you have done of her family! Blessings!! i can’t thank you enough for taking the time to plop down on the floor with us and chat. It was wonderful to meet you and your two littles. Thanks for sharing, too… Glad it turn out great for Wiphan even with the rain. Your kids are always so stinkin’ cute!  These past few weeks have been tough at our house–and one day I will share more…but right now–I’ll just say that the roller coaster ride of adoption doesn’t end when you bring your baby home. It just begins. But in a beautiful way…because that is when healing begins too. Healing though–is hard…especially for little ones […] Andrea, my heart ached for you as I read this post. Rejection by a child that you would lay down your life for is so painful. I am so glad that you let the Lord minister to your heart today. I know that you know this, but rejection is part of the bonding journey. Isaac pushes you away because he’s a baby and he can’t tell yo what’s going on. Grace is 4 and she can and does tell me. She tells me that she wants to go back. She tells me that she misses her Ethiopian mommy. She screams at night. And yet, as she pushes me away, I know that her little broken heart is just scared to trust, to love again. And so I keep loving her, as unconditionally as I can. And 14 months later, it’s better, so much better, and yet we still have our days. I’ll be praying that you will continue to lean on your Savior, to trust His timing. It will come….. Andrea, I am inspired by you as you hold on to God’s word and promise in these heart hurting moments. Even as we educate ourselves with books and seminars and know in our heads it is not “us”, it can beat you down. Rest in Him. (I don’t always take that advice). Thinking of you today. praying for you today, andrea. thank you for sharing this beautiful story…and your thoughts and struggles. Thank God for his hope. and his love. The way your little boys look at each other is so, so sweet. I am praying for you and Isaac. God has already done so much healing in your sweet boy’s life and I know He will continue the good work He is doing in Isaac’s life. I’m so glad you are able to truly experience God’s grace in your life right now. I pray things will get easier soon. I have often thought of Hosea during our adoption journey. A beautiful, frightening, painful, and redemptive image all in one. i was actually up in the night last night praying over hosea for you after reading your post on the listserv. your love is beautiful because it is HIS love. Andrea, you have always been such an encouragement to me. I learned to know you through “It’s a girl thing”. I have kept up with you and your little family. Your heart’s desire comes through loud and clear as I have read things about you. You’re a very “special Mommy” that God has placed in Isaac’s life AND God choose lil Isaac for you and your husband. No other one but YOU! God knows it would be difficult but He knew you would stick close to Him so He could carry you through each step. Your lil Frank must be such a sweetheart!!! Our children can teach us so much by the way they can be!!! God is good! I’ll be praying for you. Love this post! Mine are really close in age as well and close in their bond. I know what you mean about them teaching you how to love unconditionally, its pretty amazing. Love what the Lord is teaching you through Hosea. I needed to hear that today! I think I will always read that book of the Bible differently now. Thanks for the perspective. Andrea – I’ve been greatly encouraged by your posts this week. I’ve been making more of an effort to “get my silly” on and it has blessed our days. Silliness may be my daughter’s love language! Loved this post on Hosea. If God has shown many anything this year about parenting in the hard places, it has been to just simply love. Love and keep loving. I memorized 1 Corinthians 13 (the love adjectives part) and try to remind myself to love R that way everyday. It is impossible apart from Him, but He can enable me (and you) to love that way. Also, have you had a chance to listen to “Hope for the Hard Days” by Susan Hillis from the conference MP3’s? I attended that session and it blessed me greatly! Thanks again for taking the time to share. Love the book of Hosea and the picture of God’s love for us, and it so perfectly relates to what ya’ll are going through right now. Praying for ya’ll, Andrea! So very true. God’s Unfailing love doesn’t make sense to a world that does not get it. But to those that serve HIM we see it. We see it when we push God away and then cry out minutes later to be comforted….and God comes. We see it in our children that don’t want our love, but sooo desperately need it. We see it in everything around us…..love your thoughts Andrea…praying for you my dear friend….. I want to thank you for your openness. I have been praying for the many families who are adopting in our area right now because many are unaware of attachment parenting, sensory issues, & the emotional issues that they will need to be well versed in. I just found out about API Attachment Parenting International that has local groups perfect for adopting parents throughout the US. Here in the south the typical discipline style is just not right for adopted kiddos. Some families don’t understand & are going to be shocked when RAD surfaces between ages 7-9 in their children. It is so important for families to be prepared to use attachment parenting & occupational therapy from day 1 home. God is speaking through your transparency! Stay strong! Joshua 1:7-9 Love the way God speaks just what we need at just the right time! I was thinking of you today as I went to Hobby Lobby for the 1st time! I can see why you love that store. We are at an out of town BB Tourney and I had to stop quick to check it out!:) |
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by admin
I love that song so much, but I hadn’t seen the video yet. Precious! Erica squealed to see her sweet friend Lucy on the screen at the end.
Thank you Andrea!!! I am FULL of cares today as we wait for what seems like forever for our Embassy appt. We LOVE Third Day!! Balm for my soul today…thanks
~Angie
OH man, when everyone started uncovering their “adopted” shirts I really lost it. So glad I’ve been adopted and redeemed by my Heavenly Father! Thanks for the beautiful reminder Andrea!
Mark Lee and his family go to our church! Love Third Day! Thanks for sharing!
Love this post! On my knees in prayer for Ethiopian adoptions!